Items tagged with NASDAQ: AAPL

You know what everyone hates? Robocalls. AT&T, Apple, Google, Verizon, and Comcast are joining together to create the “Robocall Strike Force” which will work with the FCC to eliminate the annoyance. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will lead the effort. A robocall is a phone call with a prerecorded message, and are often used to defraud people. Time Warner Cable was actually forced to pay $230,000 USD in July 2015 for robocalling one woman 153 times. One of the worst cases of fraud is when people fall for a robocall claiming it is from the IRS. This practice is so prevalent that the IRS has...Read more...

Tablet PCs have been around for ages, but when Apple released its first iPad, it's as if the world suddenly realized just how useful they could be. Immediately, iPads flew off the shelves, and a countless number of competitors popped out of nowhere with their own take on things. In recent years, Microsoft has even got in on the action, ruling the roost where Windows slates are concerned. But, as IDC's latest report highlights, tablets are on the decline, which is sure to leave a sour taste in the mouths of those who still love them. Decline doesn't mean down-and-out, though: there could always...Read more...

Many customers are upset by the latest Pokémon GO update. Some ticked off redditors have reported that they have received full refunds for the purchases of the Pokémon GO app, since the game is no longer working in the manner they originally anticipated.When the game was first released there were “footsteps” that indicated how far away a Pokémon was from the user. One footstep meant that the Pokémon was close, while three steps indicated that the Pokémon was far away. There were several bugs with this tracker system. All nearby Pokémon had three footsteps underneath them...Read more...

Nothing is simple when it comes to the music industry, especially where streaming is concerned. Ever since Napster originally hit the Internet and caused musicians, songwriters, and anyone else involved in the industry to see just how easy it is to share music online, there's been constant debate on how to better do things. We've even seen mega-stars like Taylor Swift chime in on various matters - something we've learned can have real effect. While it could be argued that Apple's size - and the amount of cash in its pocket - will keep it safe in the music industry while things continue to be debated,...Read more...

It's beginning to look like some rather sophisticated hackers have made their way into Apple's core and crippled iCloud security so severely that some iPhones have essentially been held hostage. A few iPhones here and there might not seem like a big deal, but ultimately, there could be a staggering 40 million iCloud accounts (approximately) at risk here. According to CSO Online, some iPhone users, dating back to February this year, have found their devices compromised, held hostage by Russian hackers. The attack is almost too simple. An iCloud account is broken into (with the help of leaked credentials),...Read more...

You know a story is going to be good when it involves Facebook, its creator Mark Zuckerberg, and the word "privacy". It used to be that Google was considered the biggest, baddest people data-fetcher, but over time, that crown has been passed to Facebook, a service that doesn't even need to try to get information from people, as those people willingly cough it up themselves. For a multitude of reasons, the lack of privacy on Facebook should be concerning to many, especially when you consider that Mark Zuckerberg can't seem to get enough privacy for himself. As we reported just the other day, Facebook-owned...Read more...

At its annual WWDC conference being held this week in San Francisco, Apple announced that it would be transitioning its long-running Mac OS X to "macOS". Based on the initial screenshots we've been given, there's not going to be a large departure from what we're used to from OS X, but the move is still notable considering OS X has been the chosen name for 15 years. There's a lot of history there. Well, there's also going to be history made with macOS Sierra, as Safari 10 is going to be shipping with common 'legacy' plugins disabled by default. That of course includes Adobe's much-loathed Flash...Read more...

We don't need to tell you that Apple has been dealing with some extreme issues revolving around encryption in recent months. Most of the hassle was spurred back in December when the FBI wanted the Cupertino company to help break into a terrorist's iPhone 5c, something it refused to do. As time went on, the FBI figured out its own solution to getting in, much to Apple's chagrin. Since then, government agencies have made use of this newfound power to gain access to consumer iPhones, and that has guaranteed just one thing: hardware vendors are going to push even harder to make sure this isn't possible...Read more...

While it's not uncommon for consumers to want to upgrade their smartphones each and every year, the market is learning more and more that tablets don't enjoy the same kind of uptake. IDC's latest report highlights this well, as it shows a 14.7% year-over-year decline in tablet shipments. That puts the total at 39.6 million shipped, and includes both standard "slate" and detachable form-factors. With these results, it's clear that there is not as much demand for tablets as there once was, but things could change in the future as more and more users are ditching their desktops to become more mobile....Read more...

With the incredible amount of product that Apple pushes, and the company's knack for secrecy, it's easy to understand why Apple would want to use as much in-house hardware as possible. Doing so doesn't just allow Apple to claim that the lion's share of the technology in its devices is its own, but it allows them to to better-tune the products from top to bottom. In 2008, we saw the company acquire chip producer PA Semi, which eventually resulted in the creation of Apple's A-series chips. Now, according to Ars Technica, we could see the company next snatch up Imagination Technologies. You might...Read more...

It's been a little over a month since a federal judge ordered Apple to break the encryption on a San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone, and to call those ~30 days "action-packed" would be an understatement. Just earlier, we learned that the FBI isn't even concerned about contradicting itself: it argues for improved vehicle security at the same time it wants to cripple the iPhone's security. Now, we learn of another interesting development: if the FBI is successful in forcing Apple to sculpt an OS around its rules, or introduce a backdoor at all into iOS, engineers are going to walk. The New York Times...Read more...

It's been an incredible month for Apple, the FBI, and all of us. We've been sitting back, watching the battle of these two giants, as a conclusion about whether or not the FBI should have a right to access encrypted data on someone's smartphone is reached. It seems like not a day can go by without an update to this interesting saga, and we've been keeping you informed throughout it all. Late last week, we saw an interesting twist: the FBI came out and said that if Apple doesn't want to help it out, or invest its own time to help the FBI accomplish its goal, then the company could simply hand over...Read more...

We have been hearing so much about the FBI's pressure on Apple in its encryption fight in recent weeks that it might be easy to forget that it's only just begun in recent weeks. But what a few weeks it's been! In the middle of February, a federal judge ordered Apple to break encryption on an iPhone that belonged to a terrorist part of the San Bernardino attack in December, and Apple wasted no time in defending its stance on things. In gist, CEO Tim Cook and the rest of Apple want to continue giving their customers a phone they can trust, and the government is working hard to cripple that....Read more...

It's beginning to look like 2016 could be one of the biggest years we've seen for the iPhone in quite some time, as it's possible that three new variants are going to show up. Those include the iPhone 7, the iPhone Pro, and iPhone SE. There's not a lot known (or speculated on) about the iPhone 7 at this point in time, although it's being said that it's supposed to be a bit slimmer than the current-gen models. Despite the slimming-down being just 1mm, it does raise concern about whether or not battery-life is going to be affected. Let's just hope that Apple isn't sacrificing battery-life so that...Read more...